Avalanche Gameday: Toews Returns, What’s The Mood In The Room?

While the Dallas Stars are losing a key player for Game Five, the Colorado Avalanche will be getting one back.

Devon Toews, who missed last game due to illness, will return to the lineup for the Avalanche. He took part in morning skate, which was optional, and has been feeling much better.

His defensive partner, Cale Makar, will certainly welcome him back.

“He was pretty sick last game,” Makar said. “Obviously provides a lot of stability back there for us with pairings, so it’d be good if we get him back.”

On the other end, the Stars will have to play without Roope Hintz, who is one of their top two centers. Hintz hasn’t had the best postseason and there is belief he’s been battling an injury since the Vegas series, but he’s still a key piece, as he scored 30 goals during the regular season. Dallas will have Chris Tanev, who left Game Four a little early.

One of the more interesting comments after the Game Four loss came from Makar, who said that the team looked nervous. Given the news they were handed hours before puck drop, that makes some sense, but I asked Bednar if he felt that before Game Four started.

“I didn’t feel it going into (Game Four),” Bednar said. “But just from watching, last game, the period I didn’t like was the first period. Obviously, we got badly out-chancedand I used the term it looked like we were frozen out there. we weren’t jumping with any sort of aggression. We were just not skating with the puck. I don’t know, just trying to be too safe, whatever it was.”

Does the mood in the locker room feel any different today?

“I sense we’re a little more loose today,” he said.

We’ll find out soon enough. It’s tough to get a feel from an optional morning skate, but the team did seem relatively loose. Sam Girard started a drill wrong and Mikko Rantanen yelled at him to take a lap. Whether or not that carries over to the game tonight is another story.

Game Five starts at 6 PM MST.

Other News And Notes

• Gabriel Landeskog actually took part in some drills at morning skate. I wouldn’t say he was moving super fast in any of them, but that’s a nice sign.
• I’ll have a CHN+ story later today on the Black Aces, and how most of them are young guys that the team sees knocking on the door for a roster spot. Given what we’re seeing with the Stars, the Avalanche will badly need some young guys to step in real soon.